Shoe upper stretching machine



Feb. 25, 1958 M. L. DODGE SHOE UPPER STRETCHING MACHINE Original Filed July 7, 1952 3 Shets-Sheet i Feb. 25,1958 M. 1.. D DGE' 2,824,317.

SHOE UPPER STRETCHING MACHINE Original Filed July 7, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 M. L. DODGE .SHOE UPPER STRETCHING MACHINE Original Filed July 7, 1952 Feb. 25, 1958 s Shecs-Sheet :s

United States Patent O SHOE UPPER STRETCHING MACHINE Milton L. Dodge, Newburyport, Mass., assignor to Compo Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boston, Mass., 2 corporation of Delaware 1 Claim. (Cl. 1253.6)

This invention relates to machines for exerting various shaping operations such as stretching and pressing various portions of the uppers of shoes, and more particularly to machines of simple type convenient for use in a shoe retail store or shoe repair shop, and in which there may be associated in convenient manners devices for locally stretching and shaping shoe uppers to the special. requirements of the individual customers.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 297,432, filed July 7, 1952, for Shoe Upper Shaping Machine, pursuant to which application U. S. Patent No. 2,717,402 was granted September 13, 1955.

For a complete understanding of this invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation to a larger scale of the same machine.

Figure 3 is a top plan view at the scale of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view on line 55 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 in so far as the mounting of the forms is concerned is a sectional view on line 6 6 of Figure 4. The form itself is somewhat different however.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view partly in side elevation and partly broken away and in section showing a toe form which may be substituted for the form shown in Figures 4 and 5 for vertical stretching of the forward portion of the shoe toe.

Figure 8 is a sectional view on line 88 of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of a toe form having a corn or bunion relieving knob to effect local stretching of a shoe.

Referring first to Figures 1, 2, and 3, the machine comprises a stand 1 which may be secured to a suitable base such as a bench or counter. This stand 1 has pivoted to a support formed as a bracket 1a extending laterally therefrom, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, on a horizontal pivot adjacent to its upper end at 2, a forwardly extending arm 3 (see Figures 2 and 4) which is turned downwardly as at 4 so as to depend below the upper portion of the bracket 1a, and having a free lower end at 5 extending forwardly and upwardly as shown best in Figure 4. A screw 6 is threaded through the portion 3 of this arm and its lower end bears against the top face of the portion 7 of the bracket 10:. This screw 6 is provided with an enlarged head 8 at its upper end in the form of a hand wheel to facilitate its turning. It will be evident that by turning this screw downwardly the forward portion of the arm 3 may be raised. This portion 5 of the arm cooperates with a pair of spaced arms 19 each pivoted on a vertical pivot 11 to the upper portion of the bracket 1a, the forward up-turned free ends 12 lying adjacent to and on either side of the end 5, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. The arm 10 are projected rearwardly of their pivots 11 where they are crossed, as shown best in Figure 6, and a screw 15 is threaded through one of these crossed ends and bears against the other crossed end as at 16. This screw 15 may be provided with an enlarged hand wheel head 17 similar to the head 8.

These forwardly upwardly inclined portions 5 and 12 of the arms may receive selectively either of two twopart shoe toe forms of different types. For example, as shown in Figure 4, a two-part shoe form 20 is provided having separate upper and lower portions 21 and 22. The upper portion 21 is adapted to be supported on the free end portion 5 of the central arm while the lower portion 22, as shown best in Figure 5, is provided with inwardly turned top portions 25 arranged to engage over the upper edges of the portions 12.

When a shoe, such as shown at A in Figure 4, is placed over such a form, the two parts of the form entering the toe portion of the shoe, and the end wheel 8 is turned to lift the portion 5, these portions 21 and 22 are separated vertically, resulting in stretching of the vamp portion of the shoe vertically. Where the toe form of the non-interconnected construction shown in Figures 4 and 5 is employed, the maximum separation of the form parts occurs at their rear portions, their forward portions remaining in contact. However, by employing a toe form part 21a, such as shown in Figures 7 and 8, with a notched rear portion 26 engaging over pins 27 on the lower part 22a, the upper form part is rocked about the pins 27 when the arm 5 is lifted, separating the forward ends of the form parts as shown in dotted lines in Figure 7. With either construction of toe form the upper part may, if desired, be provided with one or more corn or bunion attachments such as the headed plug 28 selectively insertable in any of the holes 29 as shown in Figure 14. Adjustment of the screw 17 provides for diflferentsizes of shoe forms.

In place of employing the form 29, a two-part form 30 of suitable size and shape with corn or bunion attachments, if desired, may be employed as shown best in Figure 6. One of the parts 31 of this form has a recess 32 engaged over a hump 33 at the forward end of the part 12, and the other form part 35 has a similar but a reversely positioned recess at 36 engaging a similar reversely positioned hump 37 on the other part 12. This form does not engage the central arm 3. When a shoe is placed on this two-part form, and the hand wheel 17 is turned so as to separate the rear crossed ends of this pair of arms, the two parts of the form 341 are laterally spread so as to stretch the shoe laterally.

As shown in Figure 4, the bracket 1a may be provided with a rearwardly and downwardly inclined rack bar 40 on which is slidably mounted a casing 41 between the sides of which is pivoted a gear 42 meshing with the teeth on the lower face of the rack bar. This gear 42 is secured to its pivot shaft 43, to the outer end of which beyond one side of the part 41 it has secured thereto a hand wheel 48. The forward end of the frame 41 is provided with a depending portion 50 carrying a pad 51 adjustable in a vertical direction at its lower end shaped to engage against the inner face of a shoe upper placed on either of the forms 21 or 30, at the heel end. By rotating the hand wheel 43 in a direction to cause the frame 41 to move down the rack bar 4% this pad 51 is engaged and pressed rearwardly against the upper so that the shoe is stretched lengthwise. A spring-pressed dog 52 is positioned between the sides of the frame 41 and has a lug 53 engageable between the rack teeth and pressed theretoward as by a leaf spring 54. This dog will therefore tend to lock the frame 41 against upward motion when it has been moved to a downward 3 shoe-stretching position. It is provided with a releasing handle 55 by which it may be released by the operator to permit the lifting of the frame 41 and the freeing of the shoe.

From the foregoing description of an embodiment of this invention it should be evident to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from its spirit or scope.

I claim:

In combination, a support, an arm pivoted at its rear end to said support and extending forwardly over said support and then downwardly and having an upwardly and forwardly extending free end, a second arm carried by said support and having an upwardly and forwardly extending free end positioned adjacent to the free end of said first mentioned arm, a screw threaded through said forward extension and bearing on said support and by turning of which the free end of said first mentioned arm may be lifted and lowered with respect to the free end of said second arm, and a two-part shoe-receiving form, one of said parts being carried by each of said free ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,862,600 Long June 14, 1932 2,075,412 Ward Mar. 30, 1937 2,170.754 Gregory Aug. 22, 1939 2,308,271 Dodge Jan. 12, 1943 2,660,741 Dodge et a1. Dec. 1, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 663,409 Germany Aug. 5, 1938 666,822 Germany Oct. 28, 1938 675,343 Germany May 6, 1939 1,057,350 France Oct. 28, 1953 

